Upstanding Robot

Jackson Fox is an UX Designer and web nerd. He likes pretty pictures, t-shirts, food trucks, and cooking. He occasionally writes about design and food.

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Mark Kawano on Storehouse’s Major Redesign

Khoi Vinh interviewed Mark Kawano about the launch of Storehouse 2.0, which marks a major departure from the original social aspects of the app.

It’s always interesting to hear stories of companies that evolve to do less over time, instead of more.

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On the burger button

Came across two reference points on the usability of the burger button lately. First, an interesting discussion sparked by LukeW. Next, a more systematic test of the burger button vs. menu button.

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A new car UI (by Matthaeus Krenn) I appreciate the focus on making the UI forgiving, but I wonder how well people remember all of the gestures.

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I've always wondered if this would work. Thanks Todd!

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The UXKCD method

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Perfect post for the new year. Dan Saffer shares his thoughts and reading on building an intentional approach to creative projects.

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One of the best articles I've seen on using Activity Theory as a useful design framework.

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A brief history of UX, excerpted from Leah Buley's new book.

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GestSure sells a box that, once connected to an operating room computer, waits for a surgeon to make a specific hand signal and then tracks the doctor’s arms to allow control of the cursor.

We're talking about gestural interfaces in the Viget UX team meeting today, and it's been interesting to read some (older) info on where Kinect is starting to show up outside the living room.

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Designers are usually the most aware of the problems in their work, and I can imagine a bunch of them in Cupertino reading Twitter during the keynote saying, “I told you we had to fix that before we shipped!” Every time I assume a talented person isn’t painfully aware of the flaws in their work, I am wrong.

Frank Chimero on iOS 7

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Persona Posters at MailChimp

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Loved reading about the new MailChimp design studio in the latest MailChimp UX newsletter.

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A lot of people talk about sketching in code these days. For me, this is a terrible idea for the same reasons as the above. If I am writing CSS, my brain is split between the design issues and the syntax. I want to start by focusing exclusively on what and why.

Pitfalls for Designers Learning to Code

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Ran across two interesting posts today, both touching on forms of adaptation that tend to get lost amid the talk of responding to physical devices and using social networks to personalize everything under the sun:

Cennyd Bowles on Designing With Context

Mark Boulton on A Responsive Experience

Simply put, a user's social network isn't the only axis around which we can adapt the products and services we're building. Time, location, activity, and more can help us craft better experiences.

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It’s that same confidence and economy that makes a great tutorial for a great game. There are no wrong choices during the tutorial, and each step forward introduces a core mechanic that you’ll hopefully spend the rest of the game using. Is this fun? Do I want to get to know these characters? Do I want to spend time in this world? By the end of a good tutorial or a good pilot episode, you should have your answers. When we design digital products, for the most part, we’re still building tacked on tutorial modes. Step by step introductions, a few popups to show you where the important buttons are. Did you get all that? Good, because now you’re on your own.

Nice thoughts on onboarding from Wilson Miner. It turns out this isn't new, the original Super Mario Bros. was crafted so that the player's first few moments in the game would teach them all about the world.

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A look at how the design team at Google Ventures uses design sprints to help out their portfolio companies.

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There is a difference between UI design and UX design. There is a lot of overlap though, so I'll try to bundle them together. Here it is, in ten simple steps.

A very nice answer to the perennial question "what is UX?" by Colm Tuite on Quora.